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Tested: Big Decisions. Small Decisions. The remarkable power of resolve.
Australia's Test Cricket Captain in conversation with remarkable leaders and achievers - from Julia Gillard to Dennis Lillee.
When Pat Cummins unexpectedly became Australia's 47th Test captain at age 28, he inherited a team with a long and storied history, but also one on the cusp of reinvention. It was the beginning of a personal leadership journey for him, a unique moment of challenge and pressure that would see him become a seasoned captain and, in his private life, become a father and husband but also lose his mother to cancer.
Inspiring, revealing and deeply personal, Tested is an exploration of the remarkable place where challenge, crisis and opportunity meet, and how it's only in the moments when we are tested that we discover what we are made of.
From a charity leader to Australia's first female prime minister, a Test cricket great to a ground-breaking scientist, an Indigenous leader to a bestselling author and podcaster, Pat interviews eleven extraordinary people whose stories of challenge, adversity, perseverance and resilience - navigating moments of crisis and doubt, seizing once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and giving back - have inspired him.
Tested is a book of insight and hard-earned wisdom about how the power of resolve to make decisions, big and small, and see them through, is at the heart of all our stories.
When Pat Cummins unexpectedly became Australia's 47th Test captain at age 28, he inherited a team with a long and storied history, but also one on the cusp of reinvention. It was the beginning of a personal leadership journey for him, a unique moment of challenge and pressure that would see him become a seasoned captain and, in his private life, become a father and husband but also lose his mother to cancer.
Inspiring, revealing and deeply personal, Tested is an exploration of the remarkable place where challenge, crisis and opportunity meet, and how it's only in the moments when we are tested that we discover what we are made of.
From a charity leader to Australia's first female prime minister, a Test cricket great to a ground-breaking scientist, an Indigenous leader to a bestselling author and podcaster, Pat interviews eleven extraordinary people whose stories of challenge, adversity, perseverance and resilience - navigating moments of crisis and doubt, seizing once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and giving back - have inspired him.
Tested is a book of insight and hard-earned wisdom about how the power of resolve to make decisions, big and small, and see them through, is at the heart of all our stories.
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288 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2024
57 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 17, 2025
As a huuuge Pat Cummins fans I was always going to love this book. (If you haven’t listened to his podcast on The Imperfects - you must!!). However, I did want to learn more about him - this book is not so much an autobiography but rather what he’s learnt about leadership, resolve and resilience through other inspiring leaders (many who weren’t born leaders, but fell into positions of power through unwavering passion and dedication to their chosen fields). Still enjoyed, just wanted it to be a bit more personal I guess!
November 29, 2025
I am a sucker for biographies by high performers. Hence, no matter how much I dislike the Australian cricket team, a book of experiences by Pat Cummins, the Aussie captain, was difficult to deny.
On the surface, it’s a book about the stories of 11 people that Cummins has interviewed. People who Cummins believes have been tested to the extreme and have come out with flying colours thanks to some element of their personality or character. These include the first (and the only) Australian woman PM to Australia’s foremost melanoma researcher or a Sri Lankan origin Australian who gives up a career in finance to pursue a higher calling.
All (or let’s say most) of the stories are very personal and convey different meanings about leadership, determination, love, and commitment.
What makes the book unique is how Cummins weaves his own life story into each of these narrations, drawing parallels between his life and theirs and the personal battles each has fought along the way; In Cummins’ case, stories of his childhood, fatherhood, health, family, captaincy, etc! For example, his feeling of ‘not now’ when he is chosen to lead Australia in tests because he has just had his first child, or his struggles with health and those of Dennis Lillee’s, or the insights into his marriage and the role played by Becky, his wife, in his success (quite like the family members of most of the interviewees).
My most favourite story is about this runner named Nedd Brockmann - an above average athlete who wasn’t good enough to get on the podium in any sport. Even as a runner, he can’t win a marathon, but can keep running well after the race is over! So he makes his ability to run and run and run, as his thing! He sets unreal running targets for himself and pushes himself to achieve them. The only thing worse than the extreme physical agony, he says, is the thought of quitting! And so he goes on!
Among others stories, that of Dennis Lillee and his battles as a professional intertwined with the emergence of the World Series Cup (Remember Kerry Packer) and the battles with the Australian Cricket Board, or that of the melanoma researcher who decides to offer himself as an experimental case to try and figure out better ways of treating a glioblastoma - all are quite inspiring!
There are two concepts which stand out to me throughout the book. The first is that of serendipity. As Cummins and one of his interviewees (Ronnie Screwwala!!!) defines it, serendipity is not just happenstance. It is the ability to identify such happenstances and then the ability to act upon them! I thought this was rather deep and relevant to all of us who worry about luck and the role it plays in our lives.
The other is the notion of “resolve”. This has various facets but what stands out for me is the ability to show-up (to what you have committed), day after day, no matter the circumstances. It is the idea of not letting anything come in the way of your determination. The idea that the only thing worse than the worst physical or mental agony is the idea of quitting!
“Tested” also gives one a peephole into various facets of Australia, a country most of us Indians only know through our visceral (yet grudging) dislike of their cricket team. Be it of their treatment of the aborigines, their politics, their health systems and their society in general.
As an Indian cricket fan, I love Pat’s appreciation for the Indian cricket fan as much as I get riled at the reference to Trevor Head!! It becomes rather personal (to me and millions of Indians) when he talks about the Aussie team philosophy of no risk no reward. It brings back memories of the 2023 World Cup Final and how sick I felt for our own “Sharma Ji ka Beta” who took phenomenal risks, led from the front, but missed reaping the reward just when it mattered the most!
The writing style is very smooth and enjoyable! The stories, mostly, very enjoyable and inspiring - each with different contexts and different insights!
Look forward to more from Pat Cummins, off-the-field as well!
On the surface, it’s a book about the stories of 11 people that Cummins has interviewed. People who Cummins believes have been tested to the extreme and have come out with flying colours thanks to some element of their personality or character. These include the first (and the only) Australian woman PM to Australia’s foremost melanoma researcher or a Sri Lankan origin Australian who gives up a career in finance to pursue a higher calling.
All (or let’s say most) of the stories are very personal and convey different meanings about leadership, determination, love, and commitment.
What makes the book unique is how Cummins weaves his own life story into each of these narrations, drawing parallels between his life and theirs and the personal battles each has fought along the way; In Cummins’ case, stories of his childhood, fatherhood, health, family, captaincy, etc! For example, his feeling of ‘not now’ when he is chosen to lead Australia in tests because he has just had his first child, or his struggles with health and those of Dennis Lillee’s, or the insights into his marriage and the role played by Becky, his wife, in his success (quite like the family members of most of the interviewees).
My most favourite story is about this runner named Nedd Brockmann - an above average athlete who wasn’t good enough to get on the podium in any sport. Even as a runner, he can’t win a marathon, but can keep running well after the race is over! So he makes his ability to run and run and run, as his thing! He sets unreal running targets for himself and pushes himself to achieve them. The only thing worse than the extreme physical agony, he says, is the thought of quitting! And so he goes on!
Among others stories, that of Dennis Lillee and his battles as a professional intertwined with the emergence of the World Series Cup (Remember Kerry Packer) and the battles with the Australian Cricket Board, or that of the melanoma researcher who decides to offer himself as an experimental case to try and figure out better ways of treating a glioblastoma - all are quite inspiring!
There are two concepts which stand out to me throughout the book. The first is that of serendipity. As Cummins and one of his interviewees (Ronnie Screwwala!!!) defines it, serendipity is not just happenstance. It is the ability to identify such happenstances and then the ability to act upon them! I thought this was rather deep and relevant to all of us who worry about luck and the role it plays in our lives.
The other is the notion of “resolve”. This has various facets but what stands out for me is the ability to show-up (to what you have committed), day after day, no matter the circumstances. It is the idea of not letting anything come in the way of your determination. The idea that the only thing worse than the worst physical or mental agony is the idea of quitting!
“Tested” also gives one a peephole into various facets of Australia, a country most of us Indians only know through our visceral (yet grudging) dislike of their cricket team. Be it of their treatment of the aborigines, their politics, their health systems and their society in general.
As an Indian cricket fan, I love Pat’s appreciation for the Indian cricket fan as much as I get riled at the reference to Trevor Head!! It becomes rather personal (to me and millions of Indians) when he talks about the Aussie team philosophy of no risk no reward. It brings back memories of the 2023 World Cup Final and how sick I felt for our own “Sharma Ji ka Beta” who took phenomenal risks, led from the front, but missed reaping the reward just when it mattered the most!
The writing style is very smooth and enjoyable! The stories, mostly, very enjoyable and inspiring - each with different contexts and different insights!
Look forward to more from Pat Cummins, off-the-field as well!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2025
An Unexpected, Thoughtful Exploration of Growth, Resolve, and Leadership
At the outset, I must disclose—I’m a huge Pat Cummins fan. I admire what he has achieved as a cricketer and, more importantly, what the Australian cricket team has become under his leadership. But even with my deep respect for him, I believe Cummins doesn't always get the recognition or hype he truly deserves.
Reading Tested only deepened that admiration.
Let me say right away—this isn’t a cricket book, nor is it an autobiography. Far from it. Like the leader he is, Cummins steps off center stage and shines the spotlight on others. The book features eleven fascinating personalities from remarkably diverse fields—politics, science, media, literature, sport, social entrepreneurship, and even a deeply personal conversation with his wife. As he writes in the introduction, he didn’t want the book to be about himself. He wanted to learn.
And that’s exactly what Tested is—an exercise in learning and deep listening.
For this project, Cummins collaborated with journalist Ben Mckelvey (who, by the way, has a compelling life story of his own—don’t skip the introduction). Together, they curated a list of high achievers whom Cummins would eventually sit down with, not just to talk about success, but to understand what inner qualities helped them face adversity, uncertainty, and change.
Each chapter centers around one individual. We get a glimpse into their life, their defining moments, their setbacks and comebacks. Cummins reflects on their stories through his own lens—often drawing parallels with his experiences, sometimes asking how he might grow from their example. And while there are naturally some lessons about performance and pressure, this book is just as much about how to be a better partner, parent, teammate, and citizen. There are deeply human conversations here—about empathy, social equity, self-doubt, and purpose.
The sheer range of people that Cummins has covered in the book, you will get to learn about Sailing and America's Cup, the research on melanoma, Australian politics through the life of Australia's first female Prime Minister, the struggles of Indigenous Australians, how World Series Cricket professionalized the sport, the challengers in the lives of refugees, the mindset of a marathon runner, emotions of a woman who failed to become a mother, challenges of being a father and much more.
What impressed me most was how open and grounded Cummins comes across. His questions aren’t performative. He’s genuinely trying to grow, and in reading these stories, we as readers are invited to grow with him.
So yes, I went into this book as a fan of the athlete. But I came out with immense respect for the person—the learner, the leader, and the listener.
Tested is not just for cricket
fans. It’s for anyone curious about what makes people resilient, ethical, and quietly extraordinary.
At the outset, I must disclose—I’m a huge Pat Cummins fan. I admire what he has achieved as a cricketer and, more importantly, what the Australian cricket team has become under his leadership. But even with my deep respect for him, I believe Cummins doesn't always get the recognition or hype he truly deserves.
Reading Tested only deepened that admiration.
Let me say right away—this isn’t a cricket book, nor is it an autobiography. Far from it. Like the leader he is, Cummins steps off center stage and shines the spotlight on others. The book features eleven fascinating personalities from remarkably diverse fields—politics, science, media, literature, sport, social entrepreneurship, and even a deeply personal conversation with his wife. As he writes in the introduction, he didn’t want the book to be about himself. He wanted to learn.
And that’s exactly what Tested is—an exercise in learning and deep listening.
For this project, Cummins collaborated with journalist Ben Mckelvey (who, by the way, has a compelling life story of his own—don’t skip the introduction). Together, they curated a list of high achievers whom Cummins would eventually sit down with, not just to talk about success, but to understand what inner qualities helped them face adversity, uncertainty, and change.
Each chapter centers around one individual. We get a glimpse into their life, their defining moments, their setbacks and comebacks. Cummins reflects on their stories through his own lens—often drawing parallels with his experiences, sometimes asking how he might grow from their example. And while there are naturally some lessons about performance and pressure, this book is just as much about how to be a better partner, parent, teammate, and citizen. There are deeply human conversations here—about empathy, social equity, self-doubt, and purpose.
The sheer range of people that Cummins has covered in the book, you will get to learn about Sailing and America's Cup, the research on melanoma, Australian politics through the life of Australia's first female Prime Minister, the struggles of Indigenous Australians, how World Series Cricket professionalized the sport, the challengers in the lives of refugees, the mindset of a marathon runner, emotions of a woman who failed to become a mother, challenges of being a father and much more.
What impressed me most was how open and grounded Cummins comes across. His questions aren’t performative. He’s genuinely trying to grow, and in reading these stories, we as readers are invited to grow with him.
So yes, I went into this book as a fan of the athlete. But I came out with immense respect for the person—the learner, the leader, and the listener.
Tested is not just for cricket
fans. It’s for anyone curious about what makes people resilient, ethical, and quietly extraordinary.
May 8, 2025
Pat Cummins is inarguably the most dynamic leader in world cricket right now. He is sharp, reads and understands the game well and is a master in executing the game plans.
Tested is not his autobiography. Neither does it claim to be one. It is more of a self-help and motivational book. Cummins interviews eleven accomplished personalities - individuals from different walks of life. Podcaster, business magnates, media and film personalities, politicians etc. A collection of wisdom, if I may say.
It must have taken painstaking efforts to get all the interviewees on board. Cummins and his team definitely deserves credit for putting together this one of a type initiative.
Though each chapter has in-depth insights about the interviewee and the field they operate in, I found the conversations with Julia Gillard, Dennis Lillee and Ronnie Screwvala to be interesting. Particularly the one with Dennis Lillee. The chapter offers deep insights about the World Series cricket and how it revolutionized cricket in the late 90’s.
It talks about change, innovation and adaptability. Cummins has taken the opportunity to talk about his injury struggles throughout the career and how Deniss the coach has helped him develop a sustainable bowling action. It’s rightly titled “Amateurs try, professionals prepare and adapt”.
The aim is to help the readers become better leaders. Cummins brings in spice by adding cricket references and sharing insights from his own cricketing journey in between the chapters to drive the point more effectively. The diversity of stories makes for an enriching read.
This also means this is not your conventional cricket book. So if you are coming with that expectation, you would want to look somewhere else. I hope that he accomplishes a lot more in the years to come and will wait for him to write a memoir some day.
Tested is not his autobiography. Neither does it claim to be one. It is more of a self-help and motivational book. Cummins interviews eleven accomplished personalities - individuals from different walks of life. Podcaster, business magnates, media and film personalities, politicians etc. A collection of wisdom, if I may say.
It must have taken painstaking efforts to get all the interviewees on board. Cummins and his team definitely deserves credit for putting together this one of a type initiative.
Though each chapter has in-depth insights about the interviewee and the field they operate in, I found the conversations with Julia Gillard, Dennis Lillee and Ronnie Screwvala to be interesting. Particularly the one with Dennis Lillee. The chapter offers deep insights about the World Series cricket and how it revolutionized cricket in the late 90’s.
It talks about change, innovation and adaptability. Cummins has taken the opportunity to talk about his injury struggles throughout the career and how Deniss the coach has helped him develop a sustainable bowling action. It’s rightly titled “Amateurs try, professionals prepare and adapt”.
The aim is to help the readers become better leaders. Cummins brings in spice by adding cricket references and sharing insights from his own cricketing journey in between the chapters to drive the point more effectively. The diversity of stories makes for an enriching read.
This also means this is not your conventional cricket book. So if you are coming with that expectation, you would want to look somewhere else. I hope that he accomplishes a lot more in the years to come and will wait for him to write a memoir some day.
April 11, 2025
This book was irresistible to me because I am a cricket fan. My son recommended it to me, but I assumed it was all about the author Pat Cummins. (current captain of the Australian cricket team). It is about him but it's more generally about leadership as the subtitle suggests.
The thing I liked most was the structure of the book. Pat interviewed a number of successful people in different fields in order to pick their brains re leadership. The results of those interviews are presented in the chapters of the book. It's an interesting way to present and discuss the topic of leadership and doing it that way covered the fact that the message was unoriginal; everything you've ever heard about leadership - courage, innovation, humility, resilience etc - is mentioned in the pages of Tested which is an easy to read book full of wisdom.
The chapters aren't written as interviews but include quotes from the interviewees. They also contain biographies and this is what I really enjoyed. These are a group of really interesting and inspiring people whose stories are worth reading. Their advice is also worth listening to, as Pat did.
My final praise point for Tested is that Pat acknowledges that he need to help to write the book. I presume this means a ghostwriter who he contacted with the idea and they worked on it together. As a ghostwriter myself, I appreciate that acknowledgement.
The thing I liked most was the structure of the book. Pat interviewed a number of successful people in different fields in order to pick their brains re leadership. The results of those interviews are presented in the chapters of the book. It's an interesting way to present and discuss the topic of leadership and doing it that way covered the fact that the message was unoriginal; everything you've ever heard about leadership - courage, innovation, humility, resilience etc - is mentioned in the pages of Tested which is an easy to read book full of wisdom.
The chapters aren't written as interviews but include quotes from the interviewees. They also contain biographies and this is what I really enjoyed. These are a group of really interesting and inspiring people whose stories are worth reading. Their advice is also worth listening to, as Pat did.
My final praise point for Tested is that Pat acknowledges that he need to help to write the book. I presume this means a ghostwriter who he contacted with the idea and they worked on it together. As a ghostwriter myself, I appreciate that acknowledgement.
September 23, 2025
Exploring ways to be the best leader possible, Australian Cricket captain Pat Cummins sought inspiration from a variety of successful people from different fields including not only sport, but politics, hospitality, entertainment, medicine, and they shared their successful strategies and "failures".
Australia's Test Cricket Captain in conversation with remarkable leaders and achievers - from Julia Gillard to Dennis Lillee. When Pat Cummins unexpectedly became Australia's 47th Test captain at age 28, he inherited a team with a long and storied history, but also one on the cusp of reinvention. It was the beginning of a personal leadership journey for him, a unique moment of challenge and pressure that would see him become a seasoned captain and, in his private life, become a father and husband but also lose his mother to cancer. Inspiring, revealing and deeply personal, Tested is an exploration of the remarkable place where challenge, crisis and opportunity meet, and how it's only in the moments when we are tested that we discover what we are made of. From a charity leader to Australia's first female prime minister, a Test cricket great to a ground-breaking scientist, an Indigenous leader to a bestselling author and podcaster, Pat interviews eleven extraordinary people whose stories of challenge, adversity, perseverance and resilience - navigating moments of crisis and doubt, seizing once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and giving back - have inspired him. Tested is a book of insight and hard-earned wisdom about how the power of resolve to make decisions, big and small, and see them through, is at the heart of all our stories.
Australia's Test Cricket Captain in conversation with remarkable leaders and achievers - from Julia Gillard to Dennis Lillee. When Pat Cummins unexpectedly became Australia's 47th Test captain at age 28, he inherited a team with a long and storied history, but also one on the cusp of reinvention. It was the beginning of a personal leadership journey for him, a unique moment of challenge and pressure that would see him become a seasoned captain and, in his private life, become a father and husband but also lose his mother to cancer. Inspiring, revealing and deeply personal, Tested is an exploration of the remarkable place where challenge, crisis and opportunity meet, and how it's only in the moments when we are tested that we discover what we are made of. From a charity leader to Australia's first female prime minister, a Test cricket great to a ground-breaking scientist, an Indigenous leader to a bestselling author and podcaster, Pat interviews eleven extraordinary people whose stories of challenge, adversity, perseverance and resilience - navigating moments of crisis and doubt, seizing once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and giving back - have inspired him. Tested is a book of insight and hard-earned wisdom about how the power of resolve to make decisions, big and small, and see them through, is at the heart of all our stories.
October 11, 2025
I thought I'd be in for a walk through to his debut test match he won with the bat or his phenomenal success with the ball in tests and ODIs alike. But Pat Cummins' book is a corpus of some incredible biographies ranging from Australia's winning captain of the yachting team, to the cancer survivor doctor who used his illness to further the research of skin cancer through to the colorful yet fiercely competitive Dennis Lillie.
The book came out after he won the worldcup, millions of Indians, thousands of them in the stands, with hands over their heads, stunned into silence. I'd always wondered how he kept his cool, kept his head and steered his team to the triumph of a lifetime. How he waded his way back from the brink of a career ending injury and toiled away in the nets despite hating every minute of it.
I think there'll be a an autobiography a decade later that details his cricketing career but this book right here is a great read just bcuz it tells you the value of failure and more importantly, the value of learning from it.
Let me know if this books reminds you of another worldcup winning captain who overcame a career ending injury and is an intellectual powerhouse as well the possessor of one of the toughest minds of his times.
The book came out after he won the worldcup, millions of Indians, thousands of them in the stands, with hands over their heads, stunned into silence. I'd always wondered how he kept his cool, kept his head and steered his team to the triumph of a lifetime. How he waded his way back from the brink of a career ending injury and toiled away in the nets despite hating every minute of it.
I think there'll be a an autobiography a decade later that details his cricketing career but this book right here is a great read just bcuz it tells you the value of failure and more importantly, the value of learning from it.
Let me know if this books reminds you of another worldcup winning captain who overcame a career ending injury and is an intellectual powerhouse as well the possessor of one of the toughest minds of his times.
December 2, 2024
Not your usual cricketer’s book, Tested is an exploration of leadership traits that make Australia’s modern captain the person he is. With each chapter exploring the story of a different leader, from Julia Gillard, Rob Sitch to his own wife Becky Cummins, Tested is better suited to the self-development shelf than the sports shelf - and is broadly accessible. Pat’s reflections on his own career and leadership in each chapter give insights to the man - those of us who are cricket mad want more from the field, but that’s not the intent of this book which delivers on its intent.
March 2, 2025
Such an interesting, well written, easy to read book. For cricket fans this is a must read, i would even recommend this to non cricket fans as majority of the book is focused on the interviews with each of the amazing people. Pat Cummins talks about how each of the interviews made him feel and how he relates to different things that they say and talks about little bit about the structure of the Australian Cricket Team. Amazing read, 5 Stars!
March 16, 2025
Not your typical biography format and so thankful for it! Patty Cummins Interviewing iconic Australians and linking back the learnings to his life and cricket in the modern world of sport, parenting and life. I urge anyone to read this one, even if you aren’t a cricket fan - just a good man with some insights and perspective
August 9, 2025
As a Pat Cummins enthusiast, I had to read this.
Not the genre that I generally read so I did not have very high expectations from it but I quite liked it. The selection of personalities that were interviewed was pretty good - it made me google some of them to read more about their work.The stories weren’t preachy but more biographical & reflective which was refreshing!
Not the genre that I generally read so I did not have very high expectations from it but I quite liked it. The selection of personalities that were interviewed was pretty good - it made me google some of them to read more about their work.The stories weren’t preachy but more biographical & reflective which was refreshing!
November 8, 2024
Learned a lot
January 2, 2025
A different type of biography.. I learnt a-lot about some influential people. A cricketers biography that is about much more than cricket.
January 8, 2025
Interesting combo of a book on lessons from accomplished individuals with a twist of biographical content from Pat mixed in. Was a good read, recommend for any aspiring leader.
January 11, 2025
Wasn’t was I expected, was still good hearing from other people. Would of liked a book more about Pat
January 23, 2025
Good book. Introduced me to some remarkable people doing amazing things.
January 28, 2025
Listened on BorrowBox. Loved the perspective from lots of different people on leadership, being tested and what they did to get through and Pat relating it back to his journey.
March 3, 2025
Pat Cummins 🧡.
Gem of a Person
"I have learned a lot."
Gem of a Person
"I have learned a lot."
March 14, 2025
Enjoyed it. Pat seems like a great, well rounded man.
March 26, 2025
Quite insightful and moving.
April 7, 2025
Wasn’t about cricket rather life lessons. Some were interesting some weren’t as much. I think it needed to go deeper than what it was to be a truly effective book.
August 2, 2025
Listen on audible
June 25, 2025
Listened as an Audio book. Disappointed it wasn’t Patty reading the entire book.
Very woke at times
Very woke at times
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews